Weekly Happenings: We kept this past week pretty down-to-Earth since we knew the weekend would be crazy with our overnight beach trip. I’m going to write up another post about that…so stay tuned! We really didn’t do too much out of the ordinary.
The Weekly Weather: Rain, rain, RAIN! The lake/reservoir by us has risen THIRTY FEET in the last WEEK! The Edwards Aquifer (where most of San Antonio’s water supply comes from) has risen above drought condition levels (if it stays that way, we will no longer have water restrictions). Other parts of the state have experienced (and are still experiencing) flooding, but we’re doing pretty well here in South Texas. We had some crazy thunderstorms and a tornado warning (where they advise people to take shelter right away), but we’re all okay (I don’t think there was even a tornado in our part of town…but better safe than sorry)!
What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school as usual. He ordered a new blade for our lawn mower and is excited to get a chance to install it since the old one is pretty bent up and leaves our yard looking a bit shaggy.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: My piano recital is swiftly approaching. I will be joining forces with my friend who teaches voice, so it should be a great recital.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: A cute story from his Primary teacher: they were playing duck-duck-goose at the end of their lesson and he was running around trying to get his friend. His teacher asked him if he was out of breath. He said, “No I not…I’m IN breath!” One of his “Joseph-isms” is saying that things are either “upside-down” or “upside-up” (which totally makes sense to me)., Oh, and the other day, he noticed his shadow on the ground. He started dancing around, watching it, and then said, “Hey! That guy’s not stayin’…he’s stickin’ to me!” I love the way he sees the world! Oh, and today he got to say the theme in Primary. We practiced throughout the week and I whispered it in his ear as he said it into the microphone. He did really well, said all the words perfectly, and didn’t seem nervous at all. It probably helped that Paul was in the back, giving good moral support. 🙂
This Week in Pictures:
Checking out my chair to see what needs “fixin'”. Note the safety goggles. 🙂Loading up his tools……and getting down to business.Slam-dunk!This was the morning after he had run into a part of the playground at the park and had busted his lip open.As is clearly seen, it didn’t slow him down too much (other than when it first happened…he was understandably quite upset)…I’m starting to find it difficult to get a normal picture out of him.Ah, there’s one!“Shooting” aliens at the park…
Weekly Happenings: We really didn’t do too much out of the ordinary this past week. The weather kind of kept us home bound (rain is one thing…torrential downpours accompanied by thunder and lightning is quite another). I did get a couple of nights out with friends for a baby shower and a going away party, which was really nice. Paul and Joseph got a lot of father-son bonding time this week, which was fun, too. 🙂
The Weekly Weather: It’s been crazy to say the least. We’ve had some form of precipitation, be it just a smattering of rain or a full day of it, every day since the beginning of May. We’ve also had a couple of crazy thunderstorms (one where the thunder literally shook the house hard enough that I thought there had been an earthquake…I guess it’s the Californian in me) and even a tornado watch/warning or two (no actual tornadoes, though). We had a watch one day, which means that conditions are favorable for a tornado to develop. Another day there was a warning issued (which means that conditions are REALLY favorable or that one has been spotted either by a person or on doppler radar), but it was down south of us. *whew!* Today, the rain was really coming down. Joseph was watching a show on the television and the power flickered a couple of times. When it came back on the second time, the picture on the TV was upside down. At first I thought it was just the Roku Box, but when I went to change the input to get it back to TV mode (at Paul’s suggestion), we noticed it was everything that was upside down. !!! Luckily, turning the TV off and back on seemed to fix the problem. 🙂
What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school as always. He took his turn teaching his class for Pathway on Thursday. As mentioned before, he and Joseph had a lot of bonding time this week. Joseph really loves hanging out with his Daddy. They play video games together, read books, and have a general good time. 🙂
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much, really. I do have to share something really nice that happened while I was finishing up my grocery shopping. I had Joseph hop into the car to get into his car seat while I unloaded groceries into the back of the van. As I was finishing up, I was approached be a woman who said she noticed I had a young child in the car and she offered to take my cart back so that I wouldn’t have to either leave him in the car or have to haul him along whilst I returned it. It was such a small thing, but it made a huge difference in my day that day.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been a bit stir crazy as of late. I think the weather may be affecting him (mainly because he can’t get out and expend a lot of his energy outside like he normally does). His new thing is to try to do headstands while on the couch. This is frustrating me to no end, partially because I can remember doing the same thing as a young child, so I am really trying to be patient while repeatedly telling him to stop (and reminding him of how he should be sitting on the couch). Well, today at church, he tried to do the same thing (a headstand) in the pew. It sure kept me on my toes trying to keep him seated on his bottom! He also almost got the cup from the Sacrament stuck in his mouth or throat. I should preface this with the fact that I never really had a hard time with him as a baby as far as sticking things into his mouth that he wasn’t supposed to. Well, today, he decided he was going to stick the little plastic cup into his mouth. We were telling him to spit it out, so he spit the water onto Paul’s lap (sad face), but Paul had to take the cup out because Joseph either couldn’t or wouldn’t take it out (I’m strongly leaning towards the latter because he can be very stubborn at times). Methinks that next week we will remind him of proper Sacrament cup etiquette beforehand.
This Week in Pictures:
We had days that were full of torrential downpours. It’s hard to see in this picture, but there was a good inch or more of water flowing down the entire street (even the middle).We also had days where there was just one tiny rainstorm and then it was overcast but dry the rest of the day. Our grass is really loving it.He was making his action figures rappel down the rope.There was one morning that he spent almost the entire morning playing with his Duplos.I love that he just builds what he wants and doesn’t have to stick to the “plans”. My favorite was what he called his “house car” (you can see it in the very front of the picture with the white window block on top).I was so amazed by this sky that I felt compelled to pull over (I had just backed out of our driveway) and snap a picture. I don’t think I have ever seen such a crisp delineation between clear sky and cloud cover. It almost looks like the sky meeting the ocean, except we’re smack dab in the middle of Texas. 😉Getting out his energy in a productive way: boxing practice with Daddy. 😉
Weekly Happenings: This past week may have been considered by some as a boring week, since it consisted of mostly staying home, but for us, we love being home, so it was a great week. We really didn’t leave the house for much except little errands here and there (oh, and for teaching piano; I have a few students where I go to their place instead of them coming to our home). We did have friends over for dinner after church on Sunday (which was really fun), went out for frozen yogurt after going to the library on Monday, and out on a fun family date night last night to a pizza restaurant. This particular restaurant let Joseph mash some dough flat and then they took the dough back, put some sauce and cheese on it, baked it, and brought it back out. He was pretty excited to get to eat his own pizza. 🙂 This morning, I awoke to find that there were some special happenings because of Mother’s Day: Paul bathed Joseph so that I could take a shower (he does this often, though), made me breakfast, and then presented me with my present, a paper-mache egg…JUST kidding. He had hidden my present inside the paper-mache egg, placed it in a basket (to make it look like an egg in a nest), and had included a card that thanked me for being the best momma bird around (inspiration came in part from the baby birds who just left the nest on our patio). My presents were a new watch and a new phone charger for my car. 🙂 After opening presents, we headed to church. Joseph sang during Sacrament meeting (with the Primary). It’s so fun seeing him up there trying to sing along when he only knows one or two words of the song (but when he realizes he knows them, he gets a huge smile on his face). He also enjoyed waving at us. 🙂 Paul made it through Sacrament meeting before needing me to take him home because he was getting an ocular migraine. Luckily, after sleeping for a couple of hours, he seems to be doing better.
The Weekly Weather: Amazingly, it at least sprinkled (if not rained heavier than that) every day last week (today, as well) and it’s supposed to do that again this week. It’s crazy! We’ve also had a few thunderstorms roll through. It’s still warm (and incredibly humid), but that comes with the territory of spring/summer in the South.
What Paul’s Been Up To: The major thing this week was that he was finally able to get into the doctor to get some replacement orthopedic inserts for his shoes. He had called someone a while ago about it, but hadn’t heard back. While he was at work Friday, his feet really started hurting him (more than they had on a daily basis since his previous inserts had worn down pretty badly). He was limping around work and his boss told him to see if he could get a walk-in appointment. Now, hopefully, his feet won’t hurt as much at work!
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much to report this week. I will be losing two of my students in June (when they move to Utah), but hopefully I will be able to pick some more up. I guess it’s time to advertise again. 🙂 I did get to hang out with a bunch of girlfriends this weekend, which was loads of fun. It’s always good to get out and chat with the girls.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He was really good at demonstrating cabin fever after being stuck inside for a few days straight. I think that even if it’s just a trip to the park, we need to do things outside of the house more (it’s hard when the weather isn’t agreeable) so that he isn’t crazy acting. He’s also reminding me on a daily basis just how sweet he is. Today, for instance, he needed to get my attention (he wanted a snack), so he came up and said, “Ummm…honey?” Hahahahaha! I answered with, “Yes, dear?” He then asked for a snack. 🙂 Finally, he is constantly reminding us about how friendly he is. There were several times last week that he introduced himself to different people (the cashier at Target, for example) and told them a bit about what we were doing (in that instance, buying avocados to make guacamole).
This Week in Pictures:
“Hiding” from Daddy.Swinging with one of his best buds (who is the son of our friends that we had over for dinner last Sunday).This was one of the additional reasons we bought the swing set: so he could swing with friends.They were both having such a great time.This is definitely one of my favorites!Dress up day…here he is being Spiderman. 🙂Then he added his cow ears that he got at the rodeo a few months ago.Then he wanted to dress up like an Army man.Frozen yogurt after getting new library books. This was the first time Joseph got his own. He was uber excited and was telling anyone who would listen that he got vanilla with strawberries.Watching Mario videos on YouTube and munching on popcorn.I love that he gets lost in his imaginative play at times.Serenading me while I was making lunch.And here’s the big finish!Mashing the dough at the pizza restaurant……he had so much fun!Easting the finished product.My Mother’s Day present, all wrapped up.Cutting into it.My new watch.My new phone charger for the car.Joseph’s information sheet about me that he did in Primary. I’m apparently five years old, purple is my favorite color, he likes everything I cook, I tell him about Daddy making paper-mache (evidently thanks to this morning), I play no games with him (maybe he means that he refuses to let his less-than-coordinated mom help him play video games?), and I am special because I do everything for him.
